In the world of football, "youthing" the national team is likened to a double-edged sword. The German team paid the price after rushing to remove the pillar after the 2014 World Cup, leading to the crisis at EURO 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. On the contrary, the Japanese team patiently combines experience and youth, thereby maintaining their identity, stability and maturity over the years.
With the current Vietnam men's football team, coach Kim Sang-sik will soon have to face the question of whether to replace the force after the recent successes of the U23 team, while the senior team seems to have stagnated? The answer, from a tinhing perspective, is not yet.
It is true that the young players have just brought promising signals - winning the Southeast Asian championship, qualifying for the Asian qualifiers. The Korean coach is also classified as "right person, right time" more than his predecessor Philippe Troussier. But the national team's playground is always the difference.
There, the opponents are Japan, Korea, Australia and many other strong teams, not a game for young people but sometimes the "enthusiasm" to solve problems is better than quality... If we rush to put the young players in the carrying position, the risk of failure will be huge. Some falls too early can cause the young news to collapse.
On the contrary, the senior class is still a pillar of experience. They not only ensure expertise, but also pass on the spirit and courage to their juniors. They also need support from young people. If we ignore them at this time, the team will lose the foundation and have to start over. In fact, coach Kim Sang-sik still maintains the old framework and has more naturalized players, so it is reasonable to gradually give opportunities to young faces. That is an approach that helps the flow of transition take place naturally, not easily broken because of expectations.
The national team cannot be a laboratory for testing, so it is necessary to be patient with the young generation, putting each brick in the right place to build a solid and beautiful house. Like a river, to go to a big sea, you must endure through each surrounding area, not let the heat break the banks, and depart the entire journey.
